


In the Pines

by fluffy_miracle



Category: Supernatural
Genre: A/B/O, Abuse, Alpha Dean Winchester, Alpha Sam Winchester, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alpha/Omega, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Small Town, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, CPTSD, Domestic, Domestic Fluff, Drug Addict Castiel (Supernatural), Drug Addiction, Drug Use, Dysfunctional Family, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Estrangement, Family, Family Drama, Family Dynamics, Family Feels, Feeling Trapped, Flashbacks, Forced Pregnancy, Friends to Lovers, Gabriel has a kid, Gabriel/Sam Winchester Age Difference, Gossip, Guilt, Healing, Homophobia, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Drug Addiction, Intervention, M/M, Male Pregnancy, Minor Violence, Mpreg, Mystery, Omega Castiel (Supernatural), Omega Castiel/Alpha Dean Winchester, Omega Gabriel, Omega Gabriel (Supernatural), Omega Verse, Past Abuse, Past Child Abuse, Past Rape/Non-con, Physical Abuse, Post Mpreg, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Pups, SPN ABO - Freeform, Sex, Sharing a Bed, Sharing a Room, Slow Build, Slow Burn, Slow Romance, Small Towns, Survivor Guilt, good dad gabriel, mountain town, small town USA, stuck
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-13
Updated: 2021-03-01
Packaged: 2021-03-13 18:33:49
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,960
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29406294
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fluffy_miracle/pseuds/fluffy_miracle
Summary: Sam Winchester comes back to the small town where he grew up. The small town he had fled years earlier, escaping his abusive father and dysfunctional family. Now that John was dead, he comes back to reconnect with his estranged brother, Dean. Dean who is living with a male omega named Castiel in a very conservative town. Castiel, who had blue eyes and drug issues just like their mom did when they were growing up.Things are rocky at first, but their family starts to heal: Sam, Dean, Mary, and Castiel. But while in town, Sam also ends up reconnecting with the people who helped him escape: Ellen, Jo, and Gabriel.Gabriel Novak. An omega who had looked out for him when his own family couldn't. He was a hero in Sam's eyes and he always would be. But something is going on with Gabriel, something that reminds Sam of how he was when he had left.The twenty-something alpha is determined to find out what is going on so that he can help Gabriel like he helped Sam all those years ago. He just didn't expect everything to get all personal before it was all over.
Relationships: Castiel/Dean Winchester, Gabriel & Sam Winchester, Gabriel/ others
Comments: 11
Kudos: 30





	1. all roads lead home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I'm going to start out and say this deals with some heavy issues so please read the tags. But it's a story about family and how they're trying to pick up the pieces the best they can after the man who abused them all dies. So there's also hope and rage and grief, and yet, a whole lot of love, even if they're not sure how to show it.

Sam studied the road leading out of town. Not the one he came in on, but the one that led up to the mountains, the one that led home. Home had never been much of a home, but he had yet to find a home for himself anywhere else. Blowing out a sigh, he headed back to his trusty, old pick up when he heard his name.

“Is that little Sam Winchester?” He perked up at that greeting. He’d know that voice anywhere.

“Gabriel Novak.” He smirked as he turned.

“Don’t call me that. You know it's just Gabe.” The small omega man groaned, wiping a hand over his face. He looked older than Sam remembered him, like he was perpetually tired. His skin was pale… unusual for a man that Sam remembered more often in his garden than not. “How are you, stretch? I see you got big.” Gabriel waggled his eyebrows up at him. More tradition than flirtation at this point. 

“I think you’re the only person I missed in this town.” Sam looked around. Population: 1,157. He noticed a moment too late the little girl clinging to Gabriel’s leg, peeking around the omega’s loose, holey jeans at him. “Who is this?” He squatted down, trying to look less scary than most kids seemed to think he was. “I didn’t know you had a pup.”

“I’m surprised you didn’t hear with all the gossip.” Gabriel rolled his eyes. “This is Dylan. Dylan, this is one of Daddy’s old friends. His name is Sam.” Dad. Damn. Gabriel was a dad. Sam thought he must be a really good one. He had always looked out for Sam and Dean when he could.

“Is he nice?” She blinked up at her father.

“Yes.” Gabriel glanced over at Sam, mischief in those tired eyes. “You’re still nice, right, kid?”

“Don’t call me that.” Sam laughed back, standing up to his full height. “Yes, I’m still nice. I promise. Are you still running the B&B for Ellen?” Oh. Ellen. Sam’s heart ached slightly. Ellen had always looked out for them too, when their parents couldn’t. “I might have missed her too.”

“What are you doing back here, Sam?” Gabriel’s brow crinkled down. “The funeral was last week.”

“Thought I’d come home, see Dean, now that the old man is dead.” Sam was blunt. He had missed his father’s funeral on purpose. He didn’t want to see John ever again in this life or the next. If there was even anything after this life. “I didn’t want to see him again.” He forced himself to meet Gabriel’s eyes at that. Gabriel knew about all that shit anyway. Had even risked his own life to report John to the state-- no one else ever did. Well, except for Ellen. Sam and Dean had lived with her for a few years before they were allowed to go back to that ramshackle cabin in the woods once their mother was clean again.

“Yea, I don’t think he’ll be missed.” There was that familiar understanding in Gabriel’s eyes and Sam forced himself to relax. Even after all this time… Gabe was safe. Gabe had always been safe.

“How have you been?” Sam nodded towards Dylan, the little girl still staring up at him with squinted eyes. “All settled down now?” Gabriel Novak had been notorious for never wanting to settle down. Sam was curious as to which alpha had won the omega over, if it was one he knew or a stranger from another town.

“No.” Gabe shook his head. “I’ve been… okay. We hold our own.” He patted Dylan’s head of dark, shiny hair pulled into two pigtails. “I still work at Ellen’s.” Gabriel hesitantly revealed. “Make sure you stop by before you head out of town again.” He herded his child away from Sam and towards a beat up car. He smiled warmly at Sam, a smile that reached his eyes, wrinkling up the sides of his face. “It’s really good to see you.”

“Likewise.” Sam waved. “I’ll make sure to stop in before I run off. I never really got to thank you properly for what you did for me.”

“Don’t mention it.” But the flash of fear in gabriel’s eyes made the phrase feel more like a warning than anything. Sam found himself nodding, wondering not for the first time what had happened to Gabriel Novak. He was a ghost of his old self, barely the man who had stood up to John fucking Winchester. Definitely not the man who helped Sam escape when he finally stood up to the same abusive bastard. No, Gabriel reminded him of himself all those years ago. Sam hopped in his truck, watching as Gabriel drove away.

He wanted to figure out what was going on. Huh. He found himself wanting to stay. Gabriel had helped him all those years ago and Sam was going to do the same.

He pulled out of the parking lot, heading down that road that led up to the mountains. It was time to see his family. It was time to see Dean.

“He’s not here.” Sam frowned at his mother, a thin, wild-eyed woman. She was not the way he remembered her too. “You missed the funeral, but I’d expect that from someone like you.” Someone like him. Someone who betrayed the family.

“Why would I want to see him again?” Sam asked her. “He beat us within an inch of our lives every week and all you ever did was get high.”

“You think you were the only one he beat?” She scoffed. “I couldn’t escape like you, Sam. He’d find me. He did it once before you were born, he’d do it again. I escaped the only way I could.” Sam sighed, crossing his arms. This was not how he wanted all of this to go.

“I’m sorry.” He said after an intense couple of seconds. They had both been gearing up for a fight or flight without realizing it. All those years of therapy felt as if they were gone in a second. Sam shook his head. “Maybe I shouldn’t have come back here.”

“Maybe.” Mary shrugged, her eyes more blue than he remembered, piercing right through him. She reached across the distance between them, squeezing his arm once. “But I’m glad you did. I’m glad one of my boys made it out of this dump.” She headed back inside, closing the door behind her. Sam stared at his reflection in the glass, conflicted emotions battling inside of him. She had never been the mom he wanted, but she was still his mom. And having her offer a crumb of kindness and affection-- it fucked him up more than he cared to admit.

He headed back towards the truck when Mary shouted through the screen of the nearest window. “Dean lives up the mountain a little ways-- a yellow house-- you can’t miss it.” She pressed her lips together as if to keep from saying anything more. There was something between her and Dean, but Sam couldn’t figure out what it was. He’d find out soon enough.

This was what happened when he left so abruptly all those years ago, twelve years minus a couple months. Everyone moved on without him. He had moved on without them. And now they were meeting somewhere in the middle, a convergence of chaos and buried regrets. 

Sam drove up the mountain, and there it was, a double wide trailer perched on the edge of some rocks, painted a shitty hue of garish yellow. Bees were spray painted in black all over with honeycomb and strange symbols that Sam sort of recalled from one of his ancient theology classes.

“Is that fucking Enochian?” He had to laugh, seeing it up here. How the hell was his brother, his high-school, drop-out brother living in a place like this? The Dean he had known would have preferred torching the place over inhabiting it. He pulled down the drive and parked, putting the emergency brake on in case his truck got the idea to roll back down the mountain and leave town. He headed up the rocky path and knocked on the door.

An omega opened the door, reeking of sex and something else that Sam would never want to smell again. He had smelled that on his mother almost all of life.

“We already found Jesus.” The omega bared his teeth, a warning, not a welcome. “And we don’t want anything you’re selling unless it’s girl scout cookies because we support Planned Parenthood in this house.” He slurred, running a hand through his already messy hair. His eyes were fucking bluer than the sky and he was higher than the atmosphere. He reminded Sam of Mom and that was what clued him in that he was in the right place.

“Jesus, Cas, go sleep it off.” Sam tensed, recognizing the growl of his older brother. “Who’s at the door?”

“Some fucking alpha.” The omega, ‘Cas,’ flipped Sam off before he was physically moved out of the door by a tall alpha with eyes as cold as steel. 

“We don’t want any of your shit.” He moved to shut the door but Sam blocked it.

“Dean, it’s me. It’s Sam.”


	2. facing the present

“Son of a bitch!” Dean barked out a laugh, eyes scanning his little brother. “Sammy! I didn’t even recognize you! Who said you could be taller than me, asshole?” He laughed. “Come in, come in. Don’t mind, Cas. It’s his day off.”

“Is he your roommate?” Sam stumbled over the words a little. He didn’t want Dean to take offense as he knew the Dean he had known would. The look on Dean’s face, distrustful and angry, told Sam the truth. They were fucking. Cas meant something to Dean, perhaps more than something.

“Shut your mouth if you’re going to be one of those.” Dean jabbed a finger in his direction, a clear warning on his handsome face. He still wore his hair spiked up. He still dressed the same. He still had Led Zeppelin playing in the background. “You want a beer?”

“Yea.” Sam gulped. “Also, didn’t you hear? I went to a liberal art school.” Sam sniffed, trying to make a joke. “I’m all for it. Love who you want.”

“Love.” Cas scoffed somewhere in the background, from where he was sprawled out on the couch watching Cops reruns.

“Oh, yea, that’s right, because you got out.” The bitterness in Dean’s voice stung like acid. And this was it, the reason Sam had really come back. He felt guilty. He felt so fucking guilty every day that he had made it out and Dean hadn’t. “Don’t look at me like that.” Dean said in a quieter voice. “They tried to get me out and I said no.” He revealed as he handed Sam a beer. The fridge behind him was mostly empty of anything else. Dean saw where he was looking and grabbed his own beer before he slammed the door hard. “I wanted you to get out, to get as far away as you could, and then you came back like an idiot.” He chuckled.

“What happened?”

“Let’s just say if Cas hadn’t found me when he did…” Dean shook his head. “I wouldn’t have been here when you came back. Dad beat into me just what he thought of the both of us.” Sam shuddered. John used his words as well as his fists. He had tried to use other parts of his body, but Gabriel had made the call before it could happen when he overhead what John was saying when he picked the boys up from school one day. Gabriel had been a grade ahead of Dean before he dropped out, they had both dropped out, and while his family was no picnic, he had known what abuse could sound like. The state had shown up before John could make either of them his bitch like he had promised.

He had never tried it again when he and Mary got the boys back. “You know that scar Dad had when we came back?”

“Yea.” Sam hated that Dean still called that monster ‘Dad.’ “What about it?”

“Mom gave it to him once she was sober enough to learn what had happened. It’s why he never tried anything ever again.”

“Whoa, that’s pretty cool.” Sam breathed. “Did she stay clean?”

“For a time.” Dean sipped at his beer. “She relapsed a couple years ago, but has been clean ever since. You leaving shook her up, but I think it was for good. I think she realized she couldn’t hide anymore.”

“She said he beat her too.”

“Yea.” Dean nodded. “Until I was big enough to stop him.” He turned away from Sam, something unreadable crossing his face. “Cas had to teach me that my hands weren’t only good as fists.” He said softly. “So while I know that he’s triggering you.” Sam choked on his beer at the language Dean was using. “He saved me.”

“Did you go to therapy too?”

“A little.” He shrugged. “I didn’t like to talk though. Cas taught me a lot of this shit. I know he doesn’t look like much today, but he’s so fucking smart.”

“Is he hooked?” Sam asked in a quieter voice.

“Yea.” Dean looked back over at the omega with concern and love written on his face. “But until he wants to change, there’s nothing I can do. I’m going to stand by him like he stood by me.”

“What’s up with the bees and the Enochian?”

“He said it’d keep the homophobes away.” Dean snorted. “And I’ll take that since it’s not legal to shoot them or beat their asses. Cas lets it all roll off of him like water off a duck. I’m not so good at that, so I stay out of town as much as I can. I work for one of the logging companies a couple towns over. It pays good and they don’t know I like dick.” 

“I’m sorry you two had to put up with that.” Sam offered. 

“It’s the world we live in.” Dean grimaced. “You have a pretty omega?”

“No. I’ve dated a couple, but nothing ever really stuck. After a while, I got tired of trying.” Sam hesitated. “I like girls and guys, Dean, so a lot of the girls and the guys get turned off by that kind of thing, even in the cities.”

“People are shit.” Dean decided and Sam laughed.

“I’d have to agree.”

“Hear, hear.” Cas echoed from the couch. Dean chuckled, getting up to put his beer bottle in the sink. He went and sat on the couch next to Cas, kissing his messy bed head. “You love me.” Cas slurred.

“I love you.” Dean said so quietly that Sam barely could hear it. Cas really had helped his brother if Dean could say those words out loud. “Come on over, Sammy. You can have the chair.”

“Or you can cuddle us.” Cas giggled.

“Maybe once you shower.” Dean scented the omega. “You reek.”

“It’s my day off.” Cas pouted. “I didn’t know your brother was coming over.”

“I didn’t either.” Dean leaned his head against Cas’s. “But I’m glad he did. He’s all fucking grown up now. Kind of gay like us too.”

“He’s cute.” Sam was surprised when the omega leaned forward and winked at him.

“Cas.” Dean pulled him back.

“But you’re hotter.” Cas snuggled back into Dean’s arms. “Don’t worry, alpha, haven’t left you yet.”

“So, Sam, where are you staying while in town?” Dean asked, mollified by his omega’s reassurances. 

“I was going to head over to Ellen’s.”

“You might want to head over there early. There’s some weird event coming up this weekend.”

“It’s a political rally.” Cas rolled his eyes. “For morons.”

“Why would politics come here? It’s already pretty determined what most people here vote.”

“It’s for the state, some new politician on the scene.”

“He’s a dick.” Cas interjected.

“His name is Dick Roman.” Dean explained. “And yea, Cas is right, he lives up to his name.”

“Well, maybe I’ll run down now, get a room. Can I come visit tomorrow?” It was Saturday.

“How about Tuesday?” Dean said lightly. “We have to work tomorrow.”

“We’re heathens who don’t attend the hateful church down below.” Cas explained. “That makes our employment a hot commodity.” He sniffed. “I just prefer going to church in the mountains. God feels so much closer up there.”

“You’re my church.” Dean’s body pressed closer to Cas’s and Sam forgot to breathe for a second. Cas made a keening sound that had Sam up and moving towards the door. He could tell where this was headed and he did not want to stand in the way.

“Okay, I’ll come by Tuesday then. Is 1pm okay?”

“He’s smart. He doesn’t try to do everything in the morning.” Cas giggled, already moving to straddle Dean’s lap.

“Perfect.” Dean nodded over Cas’s bare shoulder, though Sam wasn’t sure who he was talking to anymore. “See ya, Sammy.”

“Bye.” And Sam hurried out the door and back down the path, rushing to his truck before he heard anything. He hoped they were using protection at least. The last thing his brother and his partner needed was a pup in that mess.

He drove down the mountain, perking up at the idea of getting to see Ellen and Jo again. They had taken him in more times than he could count. They had helped to get him out once Gabriel made the plan. They had bought the time he needed so that John couldn’t find him. 

Sam shivered. John had tried. He had almost found him that one time. He would have if Sam hadn’t seen him first. If he hadn’t turned around and run back to a friend’s house. He had never gone back to that small apartment Gabriel had gotten for him. Not since he saw John beating on the door like it was his body. He blinked rapidly, trying to stop the tears that were welling up.

He hadn’t cried over his childhood, his family, in a long time, but being faced with all these familiar faces and places… he couldn’t hold it back. He had one more stop before Ellen’s and so he pulled into the cemetery. He had to make sure. He needed to see where the bastard finally lay.

“I’m so fucking glad you’re dead.” He spat down on his father’s grave. There wasn’t even much of a headstone, just a small wooden cross and one of the small stone markers that the military gave out. He spat one more time for good measure and that was when the tears came and didn’t stop. John was finally fucking dead. They were safe. Sam was safe.


	3. the ever present past

It was nearly dark before Sam pulled himself together enough to finish the drive to Ellen’s. He felt empty, but in a way that made him feel more whole than before. He could regret how he was raised. He could hate that he had always been so terrified and angry growing up. Sometimes he still did. But he had gotten out. He had survived. And John was gone.

“Sam!” Sam turned with a smile as Ellen ran out to greet him. She wrapped him up in a warm, welcoming hand. She hadn’t changed a bit, even with the extra gray in her hair.

“Ellen.” Sam hugged her fiercely. 

“It’s good to see you.”

“You too.” Sam stepped back, reaching into his truck to retrieve his duffel bag. “I was wondering if you had any rooms? I can pay this time.” Ellen laughed, patting his arm.

“You are always welcome, Sam. I don’t have any rooms available tonight, but I can put you up in the house. Jo isn’t in town this weekend, so you can stay there until a room opens up.” They walked into the small inn together. 

“Thanks, Ellen.” Sam glanced around, barely able to recognize the place since he had been there last. “I like what you did with the place. It looks really good.”

“I think it’s too fancy for the mountains, but Gabriel insisted. This is all his design.” Ellen glanced around. “He did a great job. I am constantly getting compliments on this place and constantly being asked what designer I used.”

“He could do this professionally.” Sam agreed, looking around again. Now that Ellen had said he was behind it, he could see Gabriel behind the finishing touches, the pop of personality that was uniquely his. 

“That’s what we told him!” Ellen laughed, leading Sam behind the counter and through the back door, up the house where Ellen and her daughter lived. “But he doesn’t seem to believe much of what we say nowadays.”

“That doesn’t sound like him.” Sam frowned.

“Well, he hit some rough times a few years back and I don’t think he’s ever recovered. You know about his pup?”

“Yea, I ran into him and Dylan in town.” Sam nodded. “She’s adorable.” He didn’t ask about the alpha in Gabriel’s life. It seemed wrong to pry even if he did want to know. Ellen glanced over at him and smiled.

“Yea, he’s been on his own since he found out he was pregnant.” Ellen told him. “Just between you and me, but Gabriel and that little girl are better off without that alpha.”

“Oh.” Sam didn’t like the sounds of that. “Were they mean?” He hated how weak that question sounded, but for all of his background in abuse, it was really hard to ask if the man who had saved him from his situation had ended up suffering the same.

“I shouldn’t be telling you any of this.”

“Ellen…” Sam paused. “I want to help. You and Gabriel-- you both saved me. Especially Gabe. You don’t have to tell me anything that is his business, just please tell me how to help him now.” Ellen regarded him, scrutinizing him carefully. That alone made Sam realize just how bad Gabriel’s situation had been.

“Just be his friend.” Ellen said after a minute, before unlocking the door to her house and ushering Sam inside. “He never wanted to settle down and Dylan was the alpha’s way of forcing him to do so.” Sam cocked his head. “He was abusive and forceful, and even though Gabriel loves his daughter very much, the way she came to be will always be very painful for him.” Ellen sighed. “I’m the one who found him, after the alpha was through, and we never saw that asshole again after that night. I’m the one who held his hand when he found out he was pregnant. I was the one who offered to drive him to a clinic, but he never would take me up on it. He seemed to think it was his ‘punishment.’” Ellen wiped her eyes. “Sam, the man you knew when you left was utterly destroyed. It’ll take some time for him to let you in, but what he needs most are friends he can trust.”

“But I’m an alpha.”

“And you’re someone he risked a lot to save. He cares about you, Sam. You are his friend already. Was he happy to see you?”

“Yea.” Sam remembered how Gabriel’s eyes crinkled up at the sides when he saw him. How he had finally felt like he was home now that Gabe was there. “Does he stay here still?” He asked, figuring Gabriel had moved on.

“Yep, same room.”

“Really?”

“Babies are expensive, not that he ever complains,” Ellen shrugged, “I just know from raising my own. He’s a good dad.”

“Yea, I could tell when I met them.” Sam said softly. “She knows he’ll catch her if she falls…” He blinked back a sudden surge of emotion. He had never felt that way about either of his parents-- just Dean. It was a rough way to grow up and he was so fucking glad Gabriel’s daughter didn’t have to grow up like that.

“I know I said he could use a friend, but Sam, I daresay, you could use one too.” Ellen smiled over at him. “Come on. I’ll show you the guest room even though I know you know where it is.” And Sam did. He and Dean had lived in it for those blissful years before they were given back to their parents.

“You’re probably right.” Sam chuckled. “Thanks for letting me crash here again, Ellen. It kind of feels like old times.”

“I hated letting you boys go back, but I wanted to hope that things could get better.” Darkness crossed over the older woman’s face. They both knew that hope had died a terrible death, starting the chain of events that would cause Sam to run away. “At least you got out.”

“That’s what my mom said.” Ellen started. 

“You saw her?”

“Wanted to find Dean.” Sam looked down at his boots. “Had to see him once John was dead.” His body shook slightly at the mention of his dead father, the man that had failed him as a father in every way. “Went and saw his grave before I came here.” He whispered.

“How was it?” But Ellen was already rubbing his back. How many times had she soothed him and Dean in this very room, after nightmares of their father woke them?

“It was pretty rough.” Sam admitted. “But at least he’s dead.”

“I know we’re not supposed to speak ill of the dead, but in his case, fuck that. I’m glad too, Sam. I hope his passing will help your family heal.”

“Hey, Ellen?”

“Yea?”

“My mom said she tried to get away before I was born.” Ellen sucked in a sharp breath before nodding.

“She did. She took Dean and she ran and he went and hunted them down just like that. She ended up in the hospital, and when she got out and saw what he had done to Dean, well, she refused to do anything that would make John hurt Dean like that ever again. And then he knocked her up, and nine months later, along came you.” Those words looked like they tasted bitter on Ellen’s tongue-- they were bitter for Sam to hear. His father had used him and Dean to trap their mother… “Why do you think we were so careful when we got you out?” Ellen patted his shoulder, as if she could comfort him. “We knew what he was capable of after your mother ran…”

“He almost caught me.” Sam revealed shakily, sinking to sit on the bed, cupping his head in his hands. “I just managed to see him first.”

“He found the apartment.” Ellen gasped. “That’s what happened to Gabriel!”

“What?” Sam’s forehead creased as he tried to connect the dots of what she was telling him. 

“John came after Gabriel a couple months after you left-- really did a number.” Ellen held up a hand when she noticed Sam’s ashen face. “We knew the risks. Gabe said he was just glad it wasn’t you at the other end of his fists.” Sam’s heart ached at the sacrifice of the brave omega. Gabe had always looked out for him, made him feel like he was worth something…

“Fuck.” Sam didn’t mean to whimper, but he should have protected Gabriel in that situation. Not the other way around. “Why didn’t he tell me?”

“Why would he?” Ellen quirked up an eyebrow. “He sacrifices for those he cares about and he doesn’t look for anything in return.”

“I want to pay him back.” Ellen shook his head.

“You can’t, Sam. He’s paid five times over for helping you. Just help him now. Be his friend now. He doesn’t want you to feel bad.”

“How do you know?” Sam questioned.

“He told me.” Ellen smiled. “He always looked out for you and Dean. And with what happened with his family when he got pregnant the first time, well, I think he knew what it was like to have no one when you needed someone most.” Ellen realized a moment too late what she had said when Sam raised questioning eyes up at her.

“He got pregnant in high school.” Ellen hesitantly revealed. “His family kicked him out and then left town. That’s why he dropped out. That’s why he lived here at the inn. That’s why he said he would never settle down.”

“I-I didn’t know.”

“He’s private.” Ellen shrugged. “And while he’ll be annoyed at me for telling you all this, I think you need to know. He’s been broken pretty bad, and we both know you know what that feels like. Just be his friend, Sam.”

“What happened to the first pup?” Ellen’s face hardened and she started to walk out of the room.

“That I can’t tell you. Only Gabe can tell you that and I daresay you won’t want to ask him. He was broken long before he helped you, Sam. It just made him more good. He deserves everything in the world and yet can’t see it himself.” She shook her head sadly. “That’s why I’m telling you this. If you want to help, help him see he’s worth something, that he’s not being punished. God knows he’s been punished enough.”

“I won’t betray your trust or his.” Sam promised. “And I’ll be his friend. He’s been my friend for so long-- it’d be nice to do something nice for him for once.”

“He was just happy to see you make it.” Ellen smiled. “It was a big relief for him.”

“Thank you, Ellen.”

“Don’t mention it. I’ll call you down when dinner is ready.”

“Okay.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please let me know what you think so far?


End file.
